JSON Viewer

JSON Viewer is a read-only Obsidian plugin for browsing .json, .jsonl, and .ndjson files as structured data. It is built for configuration files, logs, exports, API payloads, datasets, and agent/runtime artifacts that are awkward to inspect as raw text.

Features

• Opens .json, .jsonl, and .ndjson files in a dedicated Obsidian view.
• Shows objects, arrays, strings, numbers, booleans, nulls, and parse errors.
• Parses JSONL/NDJSON record-by-record and reports errors per line.
• Filters the tree by key, value, or JSON Pointer path.
• Provides a right-side outline for fast navigation through large structures.
• Includes expand/collapse controls, copy raw JSON, and copy JSON Pointer buttons.
• Shows raw JSON/JSONL with lightweight syntax highlighting and line numbers.
• Stays read-only by design: it never writes back to your data files.

JSONL behavior

JSONL files can be very large. JSON Viewer parses non-empty lines independently and renders the first 1,000 valid records to avoid flooding Obsidian with a huge DOM tree. Additional valid records are counted and reported. Invalid records are shown as line-specific parse errors.

Privacy and clipboard behavior

JSON Viewer does not make network requests and does not send vault content to external services. It writes to the system clipboard only when you explicitly click a copy button, such as copying raw JSON or a JSON Pointer path. It does not read clipboard contents.

Why read-only?

JSON and JSONL files are often generated artifacts or source-of-truth data. JSON Viewer intentionally does not write to disk, so it cannot reformat, reorder, truncate, or corrupt data files.

Installation

Community plugin directory

JSON Viewer is ready for submission to the Obsidian Community plugin directory. Once accepted, it can be installed from Settings -> Community plugins -> Browse inside Obsidian.

Manual installation

Until the community directory submission is accepted:

1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release.
2. Create this folder in your vault: .obsidian/plugins/json-viewer/.
3. Put the downloaded files in that folder.
4. Reload Obsidian.
5. Enable JSON Viewer in Settings -> Community plugins.

BRAT installation

For beta testing, install the plugin with BRAT using this repository URL:

https://github.com/viggomeesters/obsidian-json-viewer

Usage

Open any .json, .jsonl, or .ndjson file in your vault. Obsidian will open it with JSON Viewer.

Use the toolbar to:

• filter visible nodes
• expand or collapse the tree
• copy the raw JSON source
• copy individual JSON Pointer paths from tree rows

Use the outline panel to jump through large files quickly.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npx tsc --noEmit

For local development, copy or symlink this repository into .obsidian/plugins/json-viewer/ inside an Obsidian vault.

Release process

Obsidian installs community plugin files from GitHub releases. For each release:

1. Update manifest.json, package.json, and versions.json.
2. Run npm install, npm run build, and npx tsc --noEmit.
3. Create a GitHub release whose tag exactly matches manifest.json.version.
4. Attach main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css as release assets.

Community directory submission

The repository is prepared for Obsidian Community plugin submission. The remaining submission step must be completed by the repository owner in the Obsidian Community site because it requires signing in, linking GitHub, and confirming the developer policies/support commitment.

Submit this repository URL:

https://github.com/viggomeesters/obsidian-json-viewer

Steps:

1. Sign in to community.obsidian.md.
2. Link the GitHub account that owns this repository.
3. Open Plugins -> New plugin.
4. Enter the repository URL above.
5. Confirm the developer policies and submit.
6. Address any automated review feedback.

The current release is ready for review:

• root README.md, LICENSE, and manifest.json exist
• manifest.json.version is 0.1.1
• GitHub release 0.1.1 exists
• release assets include main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css
• versions.json maps supported Obsidian versions

Official references:

• Submit your plugin
• Obsidian releases repository

License

MIT